Current Affairs

AND so the "looming Iraqi election fiasco" joins "the brutal Afghan winter" and "the brutal Iraqi summer" and "the seething Arab street" and all the other junk in the overflowing trash can of post-9/11 Western media fictions.

>>>

He kicks Australian Opposition Leader Kim Beazley where it hurts, too:

>>>

In Commonwealth countries, of course, we have the concept of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, so called because the Loyal Opposition carries on like a hysterical old queen. Thus, Kim Beazley, back in the saddle and already sore -- on the very eve of the Iraqi election triumph, when elementary prudence might have suggested waiting 24 hours before singing another refrain of When It's Quagmire Time on the Tigris.

I was afraid that I was going to be among a minority who are going to vote, but I was still very happy for rather a different reason. It's that just as I care about the outcome of this election and that democracy would work in Iraq, I cared no less about voting on a personal level. This was my way to stand against those who humiliated me, my family and my friends. It was my way of saying," You're history and you don't scare me anymore". It was my way to scream in the face of all tyrants, not just Saddam and his Ba'athists and tell them, "I don't want to be your, or anyone's slave. You have kept me in your jail all my life but you never owned my soul". It was my way of finally facing my fears and finding my courage and my humanity again.

Thanks to The Diplomad for this gem, "If Only, If Only . . ." It was posted on January 23, so you may need to scroll down.

>>>

Thank you for your recent letter roundly criticizing our treatment of the Taliban and Al Qaeda detainees currently being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Our administration takes these matters seriously, and your opinion was heard loud and clear in Washington.

You'll be pleased to learn that thanks to concerned citizens like you, we are creating a new division of the Terrorist Retraining Program, to be called the "Liberals Accept Responsibility for Killers" program, or LARK for short. In accordance with the guidelines of this new program, we have decided to place one terrorist under your personal care…

Although Ahmed is sociopathic and extremely violent, we hope that your sensitivity to what you described as his "attitudinal problem" will help him overcome these character flaws.

Perhaps you are correct in describing these problems as mere cultural differences. He will bite you, given the chance. We understand that you plan to offer counseling and home schooling. Your adopted terrorist is extremely proficient in hand-to-hand combat and can extinguish human life with such simple items as a pencil or nail clippers. We do not suggest that you ask him to demonstrate these skills at your next yoga group. He is also expert at making a wide variety of explosive devices from common household products, so you may wish to keep those items locked up, unless (in your opinion) this might offend him.

From the incomparable Iowahawk, "Ethics 'R' Us", the most heartfelt and genuine ethics policy I've ever read:
Read the whole thing. But make sure you're not eating or drinking when you do, because you're liable to choke:

HOW YOU, THE READER, CAN HELP KEEP IOWAHAWK CORRUPTION-FREE
BlogAds: Whether you are selling funtime fireworks for children, non-FDA-approved herbal diet supplements, or discrete Asian escort services, let Iowahawk put the fearsome marketing power of the internet to work for you. For only $10 per week, your BlogAd will soon be reaching tens of thousands of Iowahawk's very "special" visitors. All ads submitted to Iowahawk must meet a rigorous, 10 point checklist for taste and truthfulness, like the type you see in whatever ad is running there on the right. If you would like to learn more about the power of BlogAds targeted to Iowahawk readers, click here, here, and here.

Freelance writing is all about what you LOVE. Everyone loves something, even if it's only pizza. The problem with the stuff you're most in tune with however, is that it's so much a part of you that you may not even see it.

What do you do to goof off? Do you play computer games? Do crossword puzzles? Veg out in front of the TV? Play golf?

If you love something, others love it too. For example, for a time I was addicted to crossword puzzles. Unfortunately the addiction passed, so I never followed up on it as a market for my writing, but I know that I could have.

>>>
UNDP comes close to UNICEF in the brazenness competition. All the columns save one are blank. Under "Other," UNDP states "$100K cash grant for coordination + assessment; 2 Recovery experts sent to arrive 12/31." In other words, they've spent $100,000 to do what they're supposed to do in the first place, coordinate and assess; oh and they've flown two folks out here (first class, of course) who'll do something or another. Have they in fact arrived? What have they done since then? These are questions to which you will never get a straight answer. WFP, OCHA, and WHO can barely come up with anything to brag about: in fact, WHO (World Health Organization) has NO entries at all in the matrix' columns. UNHCR claims to have provided 20 thousand jerry cans for water, there's one problem with that claim: USAID provided the cans which are filled up on the USS Abraham Lincoln with pure water and flown to affected areas by USN Seahawk choppers -- the very ones that get criticized so very much.
>>>

With its usual combination of unbelievable laziness, cupidity and breath-taking arrogance, the UN is happily planning, planning, planning while people die:

>>>
Sitting VERY late for two consecutive nights in interminable meetings with UN reps, hearing them go on about "taking the lead coordination role," pledges, and the impending arrival of this or that UN big shot or assessment/coordination team, for the millionth time I realized that if not for Australia and America almost nobody in the tsunami-affected areas would have survived more than a few days. If we had waited for the UNocrats to get their act coordinated, the already massive death toll would have become astronomical. But, fortunately, thanks to "retrograde racist war-mongers " such as John Howard and George W. Bush, as we sat in air conditioned meeting rooms with these UNocrats, young Australians and Americans were at that moment "coordinating" without the UN and saving the lives of tens-of-thousands of people.
>>>

The world is changing fast. As a freelance writer, all you have to sell is your creativity. Make the most of it, by taking the time each day to court your muse.

Here's how:

* Read whatever interests you. Make time to read every day. Read classic writers, and read today's most popular writers too. Read junk writing. Read and make notes on whatever you read. Argue with the writers on paper. If you own a book, make it your own: add marginalia.

* Follow your interests. I enjoy tinkering with software and writing for my own enjoyment. What do you enjoy? Whether it's exercising, going to the movies, or gossiping on the phone, do it, but keep your writer's radar active. Whatever interest you, interests others too.

* Follow your instincts, also known as your intuition. Make an effort to do this. How many times have you read an article or a book, and thought: "I had an idea to write this a year ago?!" Your intuition speaks softly. Listen to what it has to say.

* Play! Toss a Frisbee. Bounce a ball. Do a crossword puzzle. Paint. Knit. As an adult, you'll have to make a special effort to indulge your playful self. Do it. And don't feel guilty about it. Your creative self LOVES play.

>>>
I watched the TV pictures of the surge of ocean coming ashore, saw the buildings in its path, and had to stifle an inward "Yes! Sweep them away! Show us how small is Man! Show us how easily this Universe can make matchwood of our dreams!" And no, you do not need to remind me that they were somebody else's dreams, not mine. "Show us," I thought, "how lives and livelihoods can be snuffed out in the twinkling of an eye."
>>>

A psychiatrist would have a field day with this creep. I hope the advertisers whip the editors with a flail.

>>>
"We've been calling aid agencies and so on asking for fuel to burn the bodies with," he continues, "but we got none. We managed to fill some cans of kerosene lying around some of the devastated houses, but there's no more of even that?"

"But can't the government give you kerosene?" I ask astonished.

"The government does nothing," he says. "I thought differently till I came here, but now I've seen it for myself. Everything is left to the junior IAS officers, who are in meetings all day. Ministers come, and all they want to know is how many people are dead. They don't care about relief work at all. In an unprecedented situation you need an unprecedented response. But that has not happened."
>>>

>>>
He said the estimate was based on air surveillance by Indonesian authorities who found no signs of life in places like Meulaboh, Pulau Simeulue and Tapak Tuan while several islands off the west coast of Sumatera had "disappeared".

He said the latest death toll of more than 40,000 in Acheh and northern Sumatera did not take into account the figures from the other areas, especially in the west of the region.

"Aerial surveillance found the town of Meulaboh completely destroyed with only one buiding standing. The building, which belonged to the military, happens to be on a hill," he told reporters after receiving RM1 million in aid for Indonesia's Tsunami Disaster Relief Fund here Thursday.

Rusdihardjo said there were about 150,000 residents in Meulaboh, which was located 150km from the epicentre of the earthquake while Pulau Simeuleu had a population of 76,000.
>>>

The total death toll, according to the Red Cross, may be a unimaginable one million.

>>>
Publisher Lonely Planet and an anonymous donor have thrown down the gauntlet to corporate Australia by daring the big end of town to match their $500,000 donations to help tsunami victims.

Lonely Planet's $500,000 donation means the travel guide publisher, with revenues of less than $100 million and 350 staff, will stump up five times the cash donated by some major banks.

Lonely Planet chief executive Judy Slatyer called on businesses to dig deep and challenged them to match the federal Government's pledge of $35 million.

Describing Australia's role as critical, she said the business sector had enjoyed a year of strong profits, a booming economy and record share values. "All you need is another 70 companies to do what we've done, or maybe the big companies do more, and you will have doubled the Government's commitment," she said.
>>>